Starbucks Screwup
by fangirlingbooknerd
Summary: AU. Percy is a barista, and Annabeth is an angry customer. When they lock eyes, it's like love at first sight. Multi-chapter. Please send feedback!
1. Chapter 1

(ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN)

"Name please."

"Annabeth. That's A-n-n-" she started

"-I can spell, thanks." the barista interrupted. Okay, if he spelled her name wrong, she was gonna be pissed! Sure enough, when she got her cup it said 'Annabel' instead of 'Annabeth'. She couldn't resist saying something.

"Hey," she paused so she could read his name tag. "Hey Percy!" He looked up. Oh gods he was hot. On a scale from one to ten, he was an eleven.

"Yeah? What do you want?" Percy asked, clearly annoyed. She didn't know what to say. Her only thoughts were on the color of his eyes. Were they blue? Or green? It reminded her of the color of the ocean. She shook her head slightly, and snapped out of it.

"You spelled my name wrong, Mr. 'I can spell'." Annabeth said rudely, trying to sound angry instead of in love with the way his hair flopped over his eyes ever so slightly. He smiled.

"Let me make it up to you." He handed her a piece of paper. "Write your name and number down so I can take you to a place that'll spell your name right." Her heart fluttered. Was he asking her out?! He, Percy, gave her a wink and resumed working. No way was she turning down this offer. Annabeth quickly scribbled down her name and number. She set it down next to the cash register, with a happy glint in her eyes. When Percy looked up, she was glad to see he had one too.


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth couldn't help but stare at her phone the entire walk home. And when she got home. And while she was eating dinner. It had been almost an hour and a half! WHY HAD HE NOT TEXTED HER YET?! Just then, her phone buzzed with a text from Percy. _Hey Annabeth, just got off my shift. Hope you didn't miss me too much ;)_ Her heart did happy jumps when she saw who the text was from. Her heart did happy somersaults when she read that he just finished his shift, and wasn't avoiding her. She could't help but roll her eyes at the second half of his text. The answer was HELL YES, but she couldn't let him know that obviously. She thought about it for a minute and then responded _Yikes. Didn't realize you were one of those people…_ She eagerly waited his response. She threw her head back laughing when she read it. _I thought it was obviously I was charmingly funny. Yikes. Maybe you're not as smart as you let on._ So he had some wit, but he was still an idiot-or at least until she thought of a better word- for misspelling Annabeth. She clearly, stated the 'beth' part, not 'bel'. _Touché. But I'm not the one who, after claiming they knew how to spell it , spelled the others names wrong._

A whole two minutes pass. Annabeth starts to worry that he was mad. She thought about saying sorry, but saw the familiar gray typing bubble. WIthin ten seconds his response came in, _Sorry that I had never heard the name Annabeth before. But now that I have, I'll certainly never be forgetting it._ Percy was smooth as hell. The worst part was, he probably knew it too. But, having nothing to say, Annabeth just sent three clapping emojis. She got rewarded with a smiley face… and a follow up text. _Come in tomorrow morning around ten and I promise to have a grande caramel frappe waiting, with your name spelled CORRECTLY on it._ Annabeth smiled, he remembered her order! _Sounds like a date :D_

 _…_

9:30 the next morning:

Annabeth had changed her outfit three times already and still wasn't sure if it was good. Percy was so lucky that he had to wear his uniform, and didn't have to worry about this. She texted her her best friend Thalia with pictures of the three pictures. Checking for Thalia's response she saw that it was already 9:32! She had to leave in three minutes if she wanted to make it on time! After pacing for about a minute Thalia's response came. _I like the last one. Now go get him! ;)_ Annabeth laughed, and quickly grabbed her purse and put on her shoes. On her walk there she thought about her outfit. A cute black and white striped crop top, with a high waisted maroon skirt, and black combat boots. The outfit was sexy- it even showed part of her stomach!- yet conservative. Super trendy too. She felt her ears and was relieved to feel both of her pearl earrings in. Smiling, she put on some music and practically strutted her way to Starbucks.

…

10:00 am

It was officially 10:00 and Annabeth hadn't walked in the doors yet. Percy tried not to panic, because she said she would be here, but he was getting a little antsy. The frappe next to him was causing questions from his co-workers, and it would be INCREDIBLY embarrassing if she didn't show up. Finally, at 10:03, Annabeth walked into Starbucks, with a huge grin on her face. She stood behind the one person in line, and not-so-patiently waited. When she got to the front, Percy smiled at her. "Here is your drink, with your name spelled correctly, m'lady." he said with a bow. Annabeth couldn't help but laugh at his dramatics. "I'm taking my break!" Percy called to his co-workers. He took off his green apron and stood next to her. "Any table's a winner."

Annabeth looked around and spotted an open two seater in the corner. "That one. So the four seaters can be filled for people who actually need them."

"Very practical." Percy said with a chuckle. "Now if you will excuse me, I'm gonna go get a drink for myself." He walked back over to the counter to go order, and she couldn't help but stare at his butt. _Dang_ , she thought, _it looks good._ She was so focused on it, she didn't even notice Percy getting his drink. He turned around, and she quickly averted her eyes. Percy swaggered back to the table, giant smirk on his face. Annabeth was sure her face was a tomato at this point.

"Yikes. Staring at my butt." he started with a teasing voice, "I guess you finally caught on to my charm."

"You wish," she said with a smirk to match his, "Yikes. Maybe you really are a… seaweed brain."

"Yikes. Seaweed brain? What does that even mean?"

"Yikes. Proving more that you are one. It's someone who's head is so full of seaweed, that there's no room for brain cells."

"Yikes. I believe I just got burned by a very… _wise_ girl."

"Yikes. Wise?"

"Yeah that's what I'm sticking with."

"Yikes. You broke the yikes train." That got them both cracking up. _So far, this date's pretty good,_ Annabeth thought with a mental grin.


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N: this story is so much fun to write! literally, all my free time today has been dedicated to this story! i hope you like reading it as much as i like writing it :)_**

"Yep. I'm the seaweed brain who broke the yikes train." Percy joked. Annabeth laughed.

"And I'm the wise girl who called you out on it."

"So, wise girl," Percy waggled his eyebrows as he said her nickname. She rolled her eyes. "Tell me a little about yourself."

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Hmmm… Favorite color?"

"Currently I'm leaning towards sea green…" Annabeth said, immediately blushing. Percy smirked a little, and raised his eyebrows as if to say _ha. you're already smitten._ "What about you?"

"BLUE." He said with such an intensity that Annabeth leaned back a little.

"Oh, um okay. Blue. That's cool"

Percy laughed. "Sorry, it's just my mom and I have this thing with blue food, so it became my favorite color. I just get really excited thinking about how the whole situation turned out. See, my mom was with this NASTY guy who I like to call 'Smelly Gabe'. He said that there was no such thing as blue food, so we went out of our way to eat blue food. And finally, when I was (about?) twelve, she dumped his sorry ass. Now she's with this really awesome guy, Paul, but the blue food joke is still going strong."

Annabeth smiled. A teenage boy who's not afraid to talk about how close is/was with his mom. _This seaweed brain is really something,_ she thought. Out loud, she joked, "When you were twelve? What was that a couple months ago?"

Percy gave her an annoyed look, then smiled . "YEAH! How'd you know! I'm suuuuuppppeeeerrrr excited for middle school!" he squealed in his highest pitched voice. Annabeth couldn't breathe for the next five minutes, she was laughing so hard. The whole time, Percy sat there with this smug smile that seemed to say _Who's the funniest person ever? That's right, ME!_

As she opened her mouth to respond, one of the Starbucks workers came over. "Hey, Perce, you're break's up. It was actually over about 10 minutes ago, but you two were so cute that we couldn't bear to end your date." she said, causing the two to blush.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Percy said, making it a point to stare at his shoes. He dared to look at Annabeth. "I'll text you after my shift is over."

"Sounds good." Annabeth replied, mentally freaking out. _Okay was this date good enough for a kiss? Maybe just a hug? Was this even a date, I mean it was only like half an hour?_ She stood up, unsure what to do. She would have to walk by Percy to get to the exit, and he would have to pass her to get back to the counter. The two locked eyes, both with matching confused looks in their eyes. Awkwardly, Annabeth leaned in for a hug. _Oh, thank the gods! He's leaning in for a hug too!_ she thought. As the Starbucks employees all 'awwwww'ed, she and Percy quickly separated and hustled away from each other. Her phone buzzed as soon as she headed out the door. _Yikes._ Smiling she typed back, _yikes._

 _…_

"TELL ME EVERYTHING!" Thalia shrieked from the other side of the phone.

"QUIT YELLING!" Annabeth shrieked back. Thalia sighed.

"Just tell me, Annie. I need to know how this went! This is your first date since Lu-"

"OKAY, well anyway," Annabeth said, talking over her best friend. "It was awesome! He's incredibly funny, though a bit of a seaweed brain."

"A what?"

"Seaweed brain. That's my nickname for him. It means someone who's head is so full of seaweed, that there's no room for brain cells. He calls me wise girl for some reason. I think I really like him Thals. I haven't laughed that hard, and had that much fun since we went to that amusement park for my sixteenth birthday!" She smiled thinking about that memory. "Honestly. And on a coffee shop half-date. I wouldn't call it a date since it was less than half an hour."

"Hmm, I don't know. I think it counts. I mean, he took his break for you. They only get one of those, and he wanted to spend it with you… AGH you guys are so cute already!" Thalia couldn't help but squeal. Her little Annine is finally dating again!

The two continued chatting for another half an hour before Annabeth screamed. "ANNIE ARE YOU OKAY?!" Thalia asked, panicking.

"HE TEXTED ME! He said that he wants to meet for lunch since our previous date was so short!" Annabeth shouted excitedly.

"YAS! Go get him, and call me after. Love you. Bye."

"Love you too, girlie. Byeeee." With a grin covering her face, she texted Percy. _Any place in mind?_ His response made her jaw DROP. _My house?_ followed by _I can have a pizza here in fifteen minutes if you're in._

 _I'm in._

 _…_

He gave her the address, and sure enough, as she was walking towards his apartment, the pizza delivery guy was leaving. "So you're Annabeth, huh? I can see why Percy likes you." She just stared at him.

"Oh, Annabeth, this is my bro Jason. He works at the pizza place. Here's your tip by the way, bro."

"Thanks, bro. Nice meeting you, Annabeth." Jason did the weird guy hug thing with Percy and walked away. Annabeth was SO confused, but let it go when she smelled the pizza. _First date, part two_. she thought. Percy laughed. She gave him a quizzical look.

"Your comment? 'First date, part two'. It was funny."

"WAIT. I said that out loud?!"

Percy gave her a knowing look and said "Yikes." he paused, "You know, yikes seems be our thing. Maybe yikes will be our always."

Annabeth froze. "Did you- did you just? Did you, a teenage male, make a reference to The FaulT IN OUR STARS?!"

"Hells yeah I did. Now let's eat!" Annabeth sighed. _This boy was really something special._


	4. Chapter 4

Percy guided Annabeth to the kitchen, where she was surprised to find the table already set. "What do you want to drink?" Percy asked, "I have water, soda, and I think lemonade."

"Um, I'll just take water, I guess."

"Alright, I'll get that for you. Why don't you start on the pizza." he said, before scurrying off to go get water. Annabeth was stunned. _This boy is just full of surprises! A teenage boy letting a girl eat before him whILE HE WAITS ON HER?! This has got to be too good to be true!_

On the other side of the kitchen, Percy was scrambling to get her water ready. His soda was already on the table. When it was ready, he over dramatically set it down in front of her. She giggled and took a sip.

"So," Annabeth started, "Where did we leave off on our First Date, Part One?"

"Something about me being twelve."

"Oooooh right." She laughed remembering that conversation. "How could I forget?"

"I don't know, I mean you laughed about it for like twenty minutes." Percy teased. "I'm glad I'm not twelve though."

"And why is that?"

"Twelve year old me would've never been able to get such a hot date."

"Well, if makes you feel any better, twelve year old me wouldn't have been able to get a date as hot as myself either." she stated with a shrug that said, _what can I say? I'm hot._

Percy threw his head back and laughed like a little kid. _God, I really like her._ "So, I think we've so far established that you're hot and that our twelve year old selves needed some major improving. Great conversation." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "If you're not twelve, you're what?"

"Eighteen. Nineteen in about a week."

"Same! Well, I won't be nineteen in a week, but I'm eighteen as well. What college do you go to?"

"Stanford, studying architecture. (A/N: I have no clue if these schools actually have good programs in the areas Percy/Annabeth specialize in) What about you?"

"UCLA, studying marine biology."

"How appropriate for California. You don't seem like a surfer type though."

"Oh I can catch some MAJOR waves. But I'm more interested in what happens UNDER the surface of the water, rather than over. Why architecture?"

"When I was really little, my mom left me. And then my dad got remarried, and had twins with my step monster. The bitch HATES me. Then my dad got really sick and passed away a couple years ago…"Percy softened, feeling sorry. "BUT what I took away from it all was the constant change. I want to build something, something special. Something that'll last for forever. Or at least a century. So yeah, that's why I want to be an architect. Sorry you had to suffer for the tragic backstory." Annabeth tried to play it off with a shrug and a smile.

Percy grabbed her hand, even though it was covered in pizza grease. "From what I've learned about you so far, if anyone can build something special, it's you."

She looked him deeply in the eyes, and felt herself lean in.

He looked her deeply in the eyes, and felt himself lean in.

Their lips locked.

It was pretty much the best pizza-flavored kiss ever.

 ** _(A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I think this is a good place to end. Please leave me reviews, and let me know where you want the story to go!)_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_(A/N: SOOOO sorry for the wait! With that being said, here is an extra cute chapter to make up for all the time that I didn't write)_**

Time Skip: 2 Months Later

For the first time in two years, Annabeth is happy. This is the thought that runs through her mind as she walks to Starbucks, hand comfortably in Percy's. She fines it ironic that they're celebrating their two month anniversary there, and internally chuckles, remembering the conversation.

 _Okay, Annie-_

 ** _HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT! DONT CALL ME ANNIE!_**

 _*laughter* Anyway, Annie-_

 ** _Percy, I swear on any and all gods-_**

 _Okay, fine, ANNABETH. Can I continue?_

 ** _Thank you. Proceed._**

 _*sigh* Our two month anniversary is coming up soon, three days to be exact, and I was thinking that we should do something special…_

 ** _Any ideas in mind?_**

 _Well, at first I was thinking of doing a really fancy dinner, until I realized you would HATE that. So, I'm thinking of going back to the place of our first date. Starbucks date, the two seater in the corner. ON MY DAY OFF, so we can have more than just fifteen minutes this time._

 ** _*laughter* Sounds like a plan, Seaweed Brain._**

 _*talking so you can hear the smile in his voice* See you soon, Wise Girl._

Today was only their two month anniversary, but Annabeth felt as though she'd known Percy forever. They just… clicked. Polar opposites, yet alike in so many ways. All she knew, after this short period of time, was that she couldn't imagine life without his stupid jokes, midnight texts, and piercing green gaze. These were the thoughts that ran through her head as she walked into Starbucks, goofy smile on her face. The smile was nearly frozen to her face as she came to a startling realization, she loved him.

…

Percy had never been happier. From the moment he saw Annabeth, he thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He tried to act smart and confident on that very first day, and almost screwed up ever having a chance with her. But things worked out the best. Now, they were celebrating their two month anniversary, walking hand in hand to the place where they had their very first date. In the past two months, he learned that Annabeth's personality was even better than her appearance. He didn't even want to imagine a life without her incredibly quick wit, exasperated sighs (seaweed brain!), and gray eyes that were only ever focused when she was looking at him. These were the thoughts that ran through his head as he walked into Starbucks, looking adoringly at Annabeth. He realized what he was doing, and felt like his heart would explode. He loved her.

 _ **(A/N: So I know this is short, but don't lie, it gave you ALL the feels. PLEASE leave reviews, maybe even give plot l suggestions? I love every review posted, so thank you to those who have left some. 3)**_


	6. Chapter 6

**_(A/N: okay i got some awesome plot suggestions, and I'm going to try and eventually incorporate them all. But the one that I felt would go best with the story right now, is McAwesome101 's idea so here we go!)_**

Percy and Annabeth walked into the Starbucks, lovestruck smiles on their faces. Both thought that absolutely NOTHING could ruin today. They were wrong.

Someone was at their table.

Not just someone either. It was Luke.

Annabeth immediately panicked. Trying not to let her fear show, she tried to think of a solution. Unfortunately, before she got the chance, Percy noticed him. "Be right back," he said to her, kissing her on the cheek. "Excuse me, mister, are you almost done?"

Luke looked up. Looked past Percy. Smirked.

"For anyone else, I would be." Luke said, as he only had two bites left of his food. "But for Annie and her new man, nah."

"Wise Girl, do you know him?" Percy asked, but she couldn't answer.

She was a million- well really it was only like a hundred, if Annabeth was being honest- miles away and two years back. The memories were flooding in her brain, threatening to drown her. The screaming. Harsh curses. Anger. The breaking of glass. Her picture frame on the floor. Shattered. The bruises she tried to cover up. Excess amounts of foundation. Fear. The months she spent waiting. Hopelessly believing. Praying. The months she spent crying. Blaming herself. Depressed. The secrets she kept. Hiding them from even Thalia. Ashamed.

"W-wise girl?"

Luke just laughed. "Wow, Annie, you haven't changed at all. Still a small, teeny, little baby"

"What the hell is your problem?" _He doesn't have a problem, he IS the problem._ Annabeth thought.

"Oh, nothing much. Still just testing Annie." Luke replied with a smirk.

 _Just testing Annie_ , she thought. _Ha. That's what you call these mind games, huh?_ He looked her in the eyes, and she couldn't help but turn away after only a few seconds. The thing about Luke was, the worst part in the whole thing was, that he genuinely didn't think he did anything wrong. He believed that everything he did, was right. Morally correct, even. And Annabeth hated it. But she was too afraid to stop him, and she hated him for making her so weak. She hated him for giving her this baggage. She hated him for turning her into "damaged goods". She hated him, she hated him, she hated him! And she was powerless to tell him so. And Luke knew it.

"Okay, I'll cut you a deal," Luke started. "If Annie tells me to get up, then I will." Gods. She hated him. She fucking hated him. (A/N: sorry for the language any younglings) Percy looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell him to leave…

But he didn't know her story. He didn't know this part of her past. He didn't know that she would run out of Starbucks. He didn't know that Luke would be smirking as he ran after her. He didn't know that Luke was dating one of the baristas. He didn't know that this wouldn't be that last he'd see of Luke.

 ** _(A/N: What do you think? I added Luke into the story, and this is what I best came up with! Sorry for the short chapter, but I'm gonna try and have the next one up before the end of the night! PLEASE favorite, follow, and review! Love, love, love…)_**


	7. Chapter 7

Annabeth had never run so fast in her life. Her legs were pumping, heart rate speeding, breathing quickening, tears streaming. _Today of all days. I thought I was finally free._ She didn't know where she was going, just let her legs do the work. Her brain was stuck in the past, reliving horrible moments from so long ago. Before she knew it, she was at Percy's front door. _Shit. (A/N: this chapter is gonna have cursing sorry younglings) Shit. SHIT. This is SO not the place she wanted to go. Percy would probably come back here first, because he knew she hated being in her apartment alone._ Sure enough, she saw his round the corner. Panicking, she tried to bolt, but he was too fast. He caught her arm, and gripped her tight. Natural instincts kicked in, and she flinched, trying to cover her face with her free arm. Expecting the pain that never came. This was when Percy realized something was VERY wrong. He quickly dropped her arm, and tried not to flinch at the jagged sigh of relief she let out.

"Let's go inside, get some tea, and talk." Percy suggested, knowing tea always calmed Annabeth down. She nodded and walked inside, trying to make herself as small as possible.

A couple minutes later, after Percy had made Annabeth some tea, and wrapped her under a blanket, he asked. "What happened between you and Luke?"

"I can't."

"You can't what?"

"Explain it."

"Why not?"

"Too hard."

"Can you give me an answer that's more than two words?"

"Not now." It was around here that Percy started to feel frightened. The Annabeth he knew was a very verbose person, constantly full of life, and laughter.

"Okay… Can you explain Luke in two words?"

"Nasty motherfucker." Annabeth NEVER cursed. He was wondering if he needed to call the authorities on this guy.

"Why did he react the way he did today?"

"Twisted motherfucker." Annabeth's mind was too scrambled to even fully process what Percy was saying, so answering all these questions was difficult. Percy on the other hand, was finally starting to put the puzzle pieces together.

"Was he… an _abusive_ motherfucker?" Annabeth's silence said it all.

"Did he ever hurt you?" That one question broke the dam. Annabeth started bawling. She fucking hated him so much. But she hated the fact that she'd have to tell Percy everything even more.

…

About half an hour and a few hundred sobs later, Annabeth was finally catching her breath. Her tea had gone cold long ago, but she sipped it anyway, thankful for its comforting taste. "I don't want to pressure you, but can you now explain what happened?" Percy asked softly.

Annabeth nodded. "As I'm sure you've gathered, Luke is my ex-boyfriend. And the one person I NEVER wanted to see again. We were together for around eight months… The first months, were great." She paused, thinking of the good times they had once shared. They almost erased everything else. "He showered me with love, affection, attention, and presents. Always little things. A bouquet of roses, a stuffed animal, a box of chocolates, etc. I was so happy at first. Thinking we could last forever. It was a good summer- hell, even a great summer. Then the seasons changed. The cold came, the dark days started. He turned bitter, and controlling. Not letting me go ANYWHERE without him, yelling if I did." She stopped looking at Percy then, and instead focused on the tea bag. "One night, I was feeling bold, so I wrote him a note saying I was going to a party with Thalia. We weren't doing much, and I only had one beer, but that was enough for him. He came to the party, dragged me out of the house… And…" Percy grabbed her hand trying to comfort her, but she pulled away, lost in her own mind. "And he hit me. I thought it was just gonna be a one time thing. I didn't talk to him for two days, though he constantly left me sweet messages apologizing, and letting me know that he still loved me. I was a fool. I believed him. Everytime he would do it, this would be the follow up result. At first it was random and infrequent… Until it wasn't. Soon it seemed once a week, I would be wearing a turtleneck, or a scarf, to try and hide the bruises. The long-forgotten foundation in the back of my cabinet soon became my best friend. Then one day it stopped. He stormed into my room, broke several of the presents he got for me, and left. No warning. Just a text saying _I'm leaving. Don't look for me..._

 _TO BE CONTINUED_

 ** _(A/N: OKAY SORRY I ENDED IT THERE BUT IM TRYING TO GET THIS OUT AS FAST AS I CAN! also i passed out last night so i couldn't update sorry to anyone who was waiting!)_**


	8. Chapter 8

_I'm leaving. Don't look for me…_ Annabeth stopped, remembering the heart break. She forced herself to be strong and continue. "When I woke up, I was so confused. At first I thought there was a robbery, until I found the space next to me on the bed, cold. And when I saw the text, I knew without a doubt it was him. For months, I blamed myself. Showed Thalia the text, and let her comfort me, but never let her know about the damage he'd done to the room. To me. He just disappeared, and I thought it was my fault. He never did tell me why, but as I got older, and summer came and ended, I realized that it was his choice. Once he had his mind set on something, there was no stopping him. I never responded to that text, but I never deleted it off my phone. I guess I just hoped that one day I'd be strong enough to confront him." This is when she looked at Percy, and sniffled. "But from what happened today, I guess that's never going to happen. I still cower in front of him. I'm still afraid of him. And I hate it! I hate that he did this to me! I hate that I'm so afraid of making mistakes! I hate that it took me this long to tell someone about it! I hate that for almost two years I was afraid to date! I hate that I'm still afraid of every man I see," she looked at Percy. "I hate that sometimes I feel afraid of you! The man who cries when Nemo's mom dies! I hate that I'm so insecure. I hate that he turned me into damaged goods!" Annabeth broke off, with silent tears cascading down her face.

Percy gently turned her face towards him, holding in it place with just one finger, giving her the power to move if she wanted. " _You are not your mistakes. You are not the opinion of someone who doesn't know you. You are not damaged goods just because you made a few mistakes._ _You are the person who survived a bunch of rainstorms and kept walking._ And now you are free of him. You survived the worst. Now expect the best, because while there are some assholes in the world, there are so many more bright, caring people. And you're one of them, Annabeth Chase. And hearing what you went through, knowing how incredible you still are after such an experience, makes me love you even more." Percy stopped, shocked. He just admitted to loving her. He knew she wasn't going to say it back. Hell, this is probably the worst time for a confession like that. But he didn't regret it. He meant every word he said to her.

Annabeth was stunned. She was expecting Percy to kick her out of his place. _I mean, who would want me?_ she thought. But he didn't. He gave her a beautiful speech, and told her he loved her. The look in his eyes told her he meant it too. The look in his eyes was so different from Luke's, as it was actually genuine. Annabeth surprised herself, but leaning in to give him the faintest whisper of a kiss. When she pulled away, with her voice barely even a whisper, she said "I love you too."

 ** _(A/N: I FINALLY FINISHED THIS PART! sorry I split it up into so many parts, but it was just easier to do it in sections, and I wanted to put something out there for you lovely people to read. Let me know what you think! ALSO, I HAVE VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE: The italicized words in Percy's speech are NOT my own! They are Taylor Swift's. I took bits from a couple different speeches- the ones before she performs Clean on her 1989 tour.)_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_(A/N: This chapter is based off of CrazyPeopleLikeMe 's idea!)_**

Time Skip: One Month

It had been one month since the whole Luke incident, and Annabeth was so happy it seemed to good to be true. But it wasn't. With Percy's arm slung over her shoulders, the two walked into the restaurant. Tonight, they were going on a double date with Percy's "bro" Jason. Jason happened to be dating one of Annabeth's best friends, Piper! The two girls planned the whole thing, and just told the boys when to show up.

Piper and Jason were already waiting inside when Annabeth and Percy walked in. Annabeth was stunned, as Piper was almost ALWAYS at least five minutes late for everything! "Pipes!" Annabeth squealed, running over to hug her friend. Percy and Jason did their "bro" handshake. Then the two pairs walked over to their table.

"So, Pipes, how've you been lately? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"I've been really good. I mean, how could I not be with this eye candy on my arm?" Piper responded with a wink in Jason's direction. Annabeth giggled at Jason's fake offended expression.

With an overdramatic gasp, Jason said "EyE CANDY?! That's all I am to you? Kay then. Love you too." Piper smiled, and told him she loved him with a kiss on the cheek. "Annabeth, please tell me treat Percy with a little more respect."

"Who? Percy? Hmm I know that name… OH! Yeah! That's my eye candy's name! Percy's great." Annabeth finished with a smile, while the rest of the group doubled over in laughter.

Percy shrugged. "Damn straight, I'm great. Hehe, that rhymed." He gave a little boyish laugh. "So, Jason, how's the pizza parlor doing?" Jason beamed.

"Well, earlier today, I got promoted to assistant manager! It won't go into effect for another two weeks, because the current one has to leave. Crazy, right?!" Annabeth and Percy told Jason how awesome that was, and Piper sat there hugging him- clearly having already known this- like the proud girlfriend she was.

The group chatted for another fifteen minutes before the waitress came to take their order. She looked familiar to Annabeth, but Annabeth couldn't place her. I mean, Annabeth didn't have any red-haired friends… But she did have some red-haired enemies. Looking at the name tag she realized who it was, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. ** _(A/N: I thought about ending it here, but I realized that this chapter would've been WAY to short, so let's go!)_**

Oh god. She hadn't seen Rachel since her 10th grade year, and she hoped to never see her again. Annabeth PRAYED to any and all gods that Rachel didn't recognize her. Annabeth may have been classy enough to not start something, but Rachel sure wasn't. Awkwardly, Annabeth had to order without making eye contact. As soon as Rachel left, the entire group looked at her. "Okay so out waitress is my tenth grade nemesis, and though I won't start a scene, she probably will."

Percy looked at her. "Come on, tenth grade was such a long time ago! No way is she still bitter about it."

Piper gave him an odd look. No, these two fought like cats and dogs. I vaguely remember Rachel trying to frame Annabeth for arson?" Annabeth nodded grimly, confirming it was true. The two boys looked at each other and shared a look that said, _Whoa that is one crazy chick_. "So yeah, let's say the two had a rocky past. Let's try to keep it on the down low that Annabeth is here. Let's pretend it's some random blonde chick, instead of a girl Rachel hates."

"I'd like to think that I'm the girl Rachel hates the most. Because if she hated someone more than me, than they're probably dead. See, Rachel has, erm, anger issues. Supposedly, she went to a therapist and got everything fixed. I'm assuming she did, as according to Facebook she has over 1,000 friends, goes to one of the country's best art schools, and has a job here." Everyone looked a little more reassured at that. From there, dinner went smoothly. No more mention of Rachel, just the covering up of Annabeth being there. Everything was going perfectly, until dessert. A few minutes as Rachel left, Annabeth went up to go to the bathroom. She turned her back on the kitchen, failing to see that the dessert was on it's way. Failing to see Rachel was right behind her. Failing to notice her as she stood up. Noticing her finally, when she bumps into Rachel, causing her to spill the chocolate lava cake on herself. For a solid ten seconds, a stunned silence fell over the five. Then the screaming began.

"YOU! IT WAS YOU, ANNABETH CHASE! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST STAY OUT OF MY LIFE?! UGH I BET YOU PLANNED THIS ON PURPOSE DIDN'T YOU!" Rachel shushed Annabeth as she tried to defend herself. "THIS IS A NEW LOW, EVEN FOR YOU!" On that note, she grabbed a chunk of the cake on her shirt, and went to smash it into Annabeth's hair. Thankfully, at this moment, the manager came running over.

"Rachel! What are you doing? Were you about to ASSAULT a customer?" the manager asked. Rachel had no answer. "That's what I thought. Come with me, NOW!." Without a word, Rachel followed him, still with the cake in her hand. The four were left staring after them, clearly shaken up.

About ten minutes later, the manager came back to the table, minus Rachel. "I am so terribly sorry about the way my waitstaff acted. Can you please explain what happened?"

"I was getting up to use the restroom," Annabeth started, "I didn't realize Rachel was standing behind me, so when I stood up, I accidentally knocked into her arm. This caused the plate to go backwards, smashing the food into her shirt." The manager nodded.

"Yeah, I figured something along those lines had happened. Again, I'm terribly sorry about this. We have just… removed Rachel from the staff. I'll have a new dessert brought out, and all of your food tonight will be on the house. Also, just in case you ever feel like coming back, here is a $100 gift card." he said, handing the card to Annabeth. The four were stunned by the mans actions. They had just assumed they were going to get a free dessert, not all this!

"Thank you so much. I think we'll be back again. The food here is great, and with a manager like you, I doubt these incidents happen often." The manager blushed at the compliment.

"Well, uh, thank you. I'll get right on that dessert."

When the dessert finally came, the four dug in, incident forgotten. Annabeth smiled softly to herself, thankful that Rachel Elizabeth Dare could no longer ruin her life. And that dessert was to die for! She looked out the window to her left. Sitting there was Rachel, crying on the phone with someone. Piper caught her stare and looked, causing the rest of the group to do the same. "You know, I kind of feel bad for her." Annabeth said. The other three gave her a skeptical look. "Okay, fine. Maybe I don't. But, gods, can you blame me?!"

"She's just as bad as you said she was!" "That girl is psycho!" "Knew I never liked her." Those were the responses that came from Percy, Jason, and Piper. Annabeth grinned, knowing she couldn't ask for better friends.


	10. Chapter 10

**_(A/N: this is a rather interesting chapter, pushing at the limits of my T rating. It I_** ** _S NOT_** ** _smut or lemon or whatever you wanna call it but it's more graphic then "they kissed". You've been warned. Also, slight language warning. Nothing bad, but there is mild cursing. And hey, Guest. 1. I'm a dudette, aka FEMALE and 2. IM TRYING OKAY)_**

There's a time skip, but it's not really important.

Let's say…. A month?

Annabeth was furious. She could NOT believe what just happened. She slammed the door to the apartment, just to hear it re-slammed a few seconds later. Percy came barging in, and grabbed her wrist. "What the hell was that Annabeth?!" he screamed. Annabeth didn't give a response, instead yanked wrist from his grasp. "That's not an answer! WHY did you dump your drink on me and RUN?"

Annabeth turned to face him, hair spinning in a flurry. "Hmmm well maybe it's because you were TOTALLY checking out that other girl!"

"All I said was that her shirt would look on you!"

"Yeah, so you were looking at her shirt! Which means her boobs! You wanna see boobs? I'll show you boobs, bastard!" With this sentence, she took off her shirt and threw it in his face.

For a couple seconds, Percy sat there, stunned. When he didn't say anything, Annabeth stormed off into the other room, slamming and locking the door behind her. He quickly followed, because he wanted this fight resolved… NOW. "Annabeth! Listen to me! I wasn't checking out that other girl!" he thought back to that moment, thinking of all of his actions. He definitely WAS checking out that girl, but she had nothing on Annabeth. Besides, there was way she could've seen that as she hadn't even been looking in that direction until he said something. She was staring at… He tried to picture it… She was staring at some guy's ass! "BUT I FOR SURE SAW YOU CHECKING OUT THAT GUY!"

Annabeth opened the bedroom door, smirk on her face. For a moment, he got sidetracked by her bra. It was a nice one, a black one, covered in lace. God, Percy loved tha- He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Yeah, you heard me! I saw you check out that guy!"

"So what if I did? I guess that makes us even now? Oh wait, I mean, I was just looking at his jeans because I thought they would look good on you." she said with a roll of her eyes.

"OH! So you ADMIT to checking out that other guy! I see… You want to look at an ass, look at this one!" Percy shouts, stepping out of jeans.

"There's not much to look at," Annabeth starts with a smirk. "That other guy had a MUCH nicer ass than you. I mean, it was so-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, because Percy slammed into her, giving her a rough kiss. She quickly grabbed her hair, and pulled at the strands by the nape of his neck. He groaned at the slight pain she brought him. She unintentionally moved closer to him, causing them to be chest to chest. He groaned again, this time at the feel of the lace through his shirt. Breaking the kiss only for a second, Percy started to undo the buttons on his shirt, but Annabeth had other ideas. She ripped right through them, causing the buttons to fly around the room. He looked at her, his stunned expression meeting her lustful one.

He backed her up unit she was against the wall, fingers drawing patterns on his chest. He counted to five before diving back into her kiss, rougher than before. She responded instantly, arching up into him, nails digging into his skin. She could feel him growing hard at her thigh. To try and take control of the situation, she ground into it, causing him to throw his head back and moan. She smirked, knowing she ran this show now. She shoved him hard, multiple times, till he fell on the bed. He wanted rough? She was gonna give him rough…

…..

The two lie next to each other, gasping for air. Percy tried to speak, but nothing came out. His lungs were too oxygen deprived for him to be able to waste air by such foolish things as talking. Instead, he grabbed Annabeth's hand, and smiled when she grabbed his. She rolled over, moving into his loving arms. She rest her head on his chest, where she could feel the his pounding heart like a beat in a pop song. She smiled with satisfaction, knowing she caused this. Percy began to play with her hair, as he was starting to regain the ability to breathe.

After a few more minutes of silence, Percy finally spoke. "I have something to admit" Annabeth looked at him, curiosity all over her face. "I DID kinda check out that girl, but TRUST ME Wise Girl, she has NOTHING on you."

Annabeth chuckled. "It's okay, Seaweed Brain. 'Cause I was totally checking out that guy's ass." She grabbed his, causing him to gasp. "Hmm, I'd say you got him beat, but not by much…" She teased.

"Oh, is that so?" He tickled her, showing that he wasn't really angry, despite his tone. "I might have to prove you wrong…" He said pulling her on top of him.

Annabeth gasped. "Impossible. A Seaweed Brain like you could never do that to a Wise Girl like me." He kissed the tip of her neck, just under her earlobe. Then he took a diagonal path down, ending at her collarbone.

"Oh really? I guess we'll have to see about that…" From there he traveled lower, through the valley of her breast, down to her belly button, and lower still...

….

Five minutes later, the two lie next to each other, Annabeth covered in sweat and trying to breathe. "I think I proved myself right with that one, Wise Girl." Percy teased. Annabeth couldn't respond, but simply nodded and closed her eyes. She curled up into him, almost like a cat, and fell asleep listening to his heart beat. He placed a kiss on the top of her hair. "Love you too, Annabeth."


	11. Chapter 11

Hello lovely readers! This is not an update to this story, but instead a message about a new one! I'm currently working on a fic, and personally, I think it's the best one I've EVER written (including my unpublished works). The first chapter will be up in a little bit, so PLEASE check it out! I don't have a name for it yet, but it will probably be something along the lines of "My Prize Was Him", and will be rated M :)


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: this is the moment you've all been waiting for…

These last couple of months had shown her a lot of glimpses of Luke. Him hailing a taxi, ordering a coffee, walking on the other side of the street. Every time Annabeth saw him, she hid until she knew he was gone for good. Every time, she would call Percy until she saw his figure retreat. Every time, she felt weak, and hated herself for it. So when she saw him today, she stood up for herself.

Instead of running to the other side of the block, Annabeth strode into the coffee shop, chin held high in fake confidence. Her shoe boots clicked as they hit the wooden floor, causing her to effectively capture the attention of everyone else in the cafe. Luke turned, and shot her his signature smirk. However, this time, instead of cowering, she smirked back. His eyes widened in surprise, not believing that she had the strength to do that. She took her spot in line, directly behind him. Immediately, he swiveled to face her. "So, Annie, fancy seeing you here. Haven't seen you around in a while… Still with that man-child you were dating last time?"

Annabeth forced herself to not show any emotion on her face. "Yeah, the 'man-child' and I are still together. Going on six months now. And as you know, this is a busy city, with tons of people. It's very unlikely that I'll see you all the time." Annabeth felt pride bubble in her chest. She was actually having a conversation with him and not breaking down! She had made so much progress, she thought her heart would burst with elation. Luke seemed surprised as well, as her remembered their last encounter.

As he was opening his mouth to say something undoubtedly snarky, the barista called him over to order. She was free! After order and receiving her coffee, she hightailed it out of the coffee shop. Barely balancing her smoking latte, she grabbed her phone out of her purse and called Percy. He answered on the first ring. "Hey babe." ,he answered.

"Guess what?!" Annabeth practically squealed, "I spoke to Luke without freaking out!" This automatically sent up red flags.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why were you with Luke? Did you actually go into the coffee shop like you said you were?!" Annabeth nodded, before remembering that he couldn't see her through the cell phone.

"Yep! I did it! I shocked the hell out of him! You should've seen his smirk drop when he realized I was WAYYY better off without him! He looked so surprised, you would've thought it was Halloween!" So maybe Annabeth was over exaggerating a little bit. But can you really blame her? She conquered her biggest fear! These were the thoughts that circled her mind as he mindlessly walked the familiar path way to Percy's apartment. Well, soon to be THEIR apartment, technically speaking. It felt a little weird for her to move this fast, but with Percy, it just felt right. They fit so perfectly together, like puzzle pieces, or the lid to a cap.

When she walked in the door, she was greeted by the world's biggest, coziest bear hug from Percy. "I'm so proud of you," he whispered, placing a kiss to the top of her forehead. He gazed into her eyes, shaking his head. "How did I get lucky enough to fall in love with a girl as incredible as you?" Annabeth blushed, ducking her head. Percy had other ideas, though, and eased her chin back up to it's original height. He leaned forward, giving her the faintest whisper of a kiss (A/N: 10 points if you get that reference), before scooping her up. He carried her bridal style to his bedroom, soon to be THEIR bedroom, before laying her down gently on top of the bed sheets. As she stared at him with the most loving, trusting eyes, he knew instantly that there was no where else he rather be.


End file.
